The Book which, with a positiveness which only divine omniscience can justify, speaks of that which antedates all human history, and of that, therefore, which, in the nature of the case, no mortal could know, challenges our faith by the comprehensive sweep of its first great work, "In the beginning God." And that Book, concerning itself, as it does, with principles, which are immutable, describes the order and progress of the first day of God's creation, by saying, "And the evening and the morning were the first day." And the last chapter of the same incomparable Book commands both our faith and our imagination by its description of the shadeless splendor of the Holy City, in the promise, "And there shall be no night there."

And between that first line of the history of Genesis of things, and the line which predicts the consummation of the divine purpose in glory, you have an epitomized record, historical and prophetic, of the movements of in all human history until time shall be no more; and everywhere and always, God is moving forward:

No one can walk with God and walk backwards; nor inquire as to His dwelling place without receiving His forward-moving invitation, "Come and see." And no one can really and sincerely summon all His powers to an endeavour to achieve a morally worthy purpose without having God on his side; nor without coming, consciously or unconsciously, into the current of that divine purpose which moves forward to the light of an endless day.

It is important that Baptists should keep the principle of the divine programme always before them. That we may never forget that the message and mission of God's redeemed people are essentially spiritual; for if we fail to keep the spiritual nature of our work clearly in view we are in danger of missing the aim of the church's mission altogether. Of late years, indeed, we have seen this effect an entire change of the accent and emphasis of the church's message, in the recommendation of godliness chiefly for its profitableness in "the life that now is." This inevitably leads to the erection of worldly and temporal standards of value by which to appraise the church' ministry and progress, until the church arrives at the condition of the Laodiceans: "Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."

Moreover, if we forget the essentially spiritual character of our work we shall fail to depend upon the only Power by which it can be achieved. The first settlements in this country sprang up on the shores of the lakes, and beside the flowing rivers; because of pioneers were wise enough to drop their mill wheels into the streams of God's power flowing by. These steel towers, bearing high voltage wires which we now see everywhere, proclaim our more recent discovery that God meant us to live, even on the plane of the physical, by superhuman powers. And in the realm of the spiritual the same principle obtains. The spiritual character of our work precludes all possibility of its being done "by hand"; it can be done only "by power", and that power the Spirit of the Lord. Hence our material gifts, whether of money or of service, must be only as the towers and wires along which the divine energy must flow for the accomplishment of our spiritual service.

The question arises, therefore, whether we, as Baptists, have any special aptitude for the spiritual interpretation of life. While other Christian bodies discuss the possibilities of various forms or organic union, have we still any logical reason for standing apart from such discussions? Have we still a distinctive message for the world? Are we as firmly convinced as ever that the distinctive emphasis of our presentation of the Gospel constitutes a truer interpretation of the evangel of grace than other presentations in which the emphasis is differently placed?

Before we can know clearly how to move forward, we need to inquire as Baptists where we are. I therefore propose to ask you to consider what is the sine qua non of the Baptist message. What is the irreducible minimum of revealed truth that a man must believe in order to be entitled to be called a Baptist? Or let me put the matter still more simply: What are the conditions of membership in a Baptist church? This can be answered satisfactorily only by inquiring. What conditions of church membership are set out in the New Testament? What conditions of church membership are set out in the New Testament? What is involved in the confession required of anyone applying for membership in the church? If we can get at these simple and fundamental principles we shall know what are the essentials of the Baptist message. And it is of these great principles I now speak.